Navy shares photo of Palm Springs Gunner’s Mate training

The U.S. Navy’s Office of Community Outreach shared a photo of a Palm Springs Gunner’s Mate as he was training off the coast of Southern California on Tuesday.

The photo is a good reminder of the around-the-clock protection the tens of thousands of young men and women provide America every day as they canvass the world’s oceans.

Gunner’s Mate 1st Class John Barkmeyer is from Palm Springs. The photo shows him as he fires an MK 240 machine gun during a weapons training evolution on the fantail of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN76), according to Navy Public Affairs Specialist Rick Burke.

Burke also said Ronald Reagan, and its embarked carrier air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 provide a combat-ready force that protects the collective maritime interests of its allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region.

In a statement titled, ‘Why Being There Matters’, Burke writes:

On our planet, more than 70 percent of which is covered by water, being
there means having the ability to act from the sea. The Navy is uniquely
positioned to be there; the world’s oceans give the Navy the power to
protect America’s interests anywhere, and at any time. Your Navy protects
and defends America on the world’s oceans. Navy ships, submarines, aircraft
and, most importantly, tens of thousands of America’s finest young men and
women are deployed around the world doing just that. They are there now.
They will be there when we are sleeping tonight. They will be there every
Saturday, Sunday and holiday this year. They are there around the clock,
far from our shores, defending America at all times.

The photo of Gunner’s Mate 1st Class John Barkmeyer was taken by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Burke.